English News : German, Czech, IMF leaders to meet SBY next week

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Czech President Vaclav Klaus will visit Indonesia and meet President Susilo Bambang Yudho-yono next week, presidential foreign affairs spokesman Teuku Faizasyah has confirmed.

Klaus will be given a state welcome by Yudhoyono on July 9 while Merkel is scheduled for July 10, Faizasyah said on Thursday.

The spokesman also confirmed that International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief Christine Lagarde would meet Yudhoyono on July 10. No details of the agenda of the leaders in Indonesia have been made public. An official at the Presidential office said Merkel would be in Indonesia from July 9 to 11.

Merkel’s visit is also part of the commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the Indonesia-Germany relationship and a response to Yudhoyono’s visit to Germany, which took place in 2009. It is also believed to be part of Germany’s efforts to seek opportunities amid the ongoing eurozone crisis.

The revelation of her visit came on the heels of the government’s announcement that it would procure up to 100 refurbished Leopard 2A6 main battle tanks (MBT) worth US$280 million from Germany, ruling out a previous plan to buy similar tanks from the Netherlands.

According to the Foreign Ministry, Klaus’ visit will be a follow up to the trade, tourism and investment roadshow with the theme “Exploring Investment Opportunities and Doing Business in Indonesia” held in Brno and Praha, Czech Republic, on June 4-5.

This will be Klaus’ second visit to Indonesia. The first was in 1994 when he was the Czech prime minister.

Lagarde’s visit, meanwhile, will come amid controversies surrounding Indonesia’s plan to lend up to $1 billion of its foreign exchange reserves to boost the resources of the IMF.

University of Indonesia’s international affairs expert, Hikmahanto Juwana, said Yudhoyono’s intensified bilateral talks with counterparts from all over the world this year were proof that Indonesia’s profile in the international arena was expanding.

“Many state leaders have more confidence in Indonesia’s role as a prominent mediator in many global issues,” he said.

Source : The Jakarta Post